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Cal Crutchlow to undergo shoulder surgery

Cal Crutchlow is facing a race to be fit for the opening MotoGP test of 2011 having been due to undergo identical shoulder surgery to Valentino Rossi in Manchester today (Wednesday).

The British rider has been troubled by a left shoulder problem for over a year since he damaged ligaments and tendons during his factory Yamaha R1 WSB debut in Portimao in 2009.

Damaged suffered to Crutchlow’s shoulder includes the supraspinatus tendon that is part of the rotator cuff group of muscles and the glenoid ligament that surrounds the shoulder socket.

It is the exact same injury that dogged Rossi throughout his final season at Yamaha and the nine-times world champion underwent corrective surgery earlier this month after a low key Ducati debut in Valencia.

Crutchlow will need his left arm strapped to his chest for three weeks and with a normal recovery period of three months, he has only 62 days before he is due to make his second MotoGP appearances at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on February 1.

Crutchlow, who made a confident start to his MotoGP career with an encouraging Monster Yamaha Tech 3 debut in Valencia, told MCN: “I’m confident I’ll be fit for Sepang. It is a three-month recovery normally but I’ve got unlimited access to a hyperbaric chamber on the Isle of Man and I’ll be using that as much as possible to speed up the recovery process.”